How to Overcome Depression Without Medications

The numbers are startling.  Antidepressants are the second best selling drug in America—with over 86 billion dollars spent annually.  Yet, recent studies show that, except for people who are severely depressed, they have little or no effect.  According to a recent article in Time magazine, “Popular antidepressants including Prozac and Paxil have little impact on most patients, according to a comprehensive review of newly released data…”

So why are antidepressants so popular?  Because drug companies spend about 10 billion dollars each year to get people to buy their expensive pills.  Unfortunately, there are three major drawbacks to trying to take a pill to make yourself feel better.

The first downside to taking an antidepressant is that they have some nasty side effects.  From weight gain and insomnia to reduced libido, these drugs can create as many problems as they try to solve.  While not everyone experiences all these side effects, the vast majority of users experience at least some side effects that they find unpleasant.

A second shortcoming to antidepressants is that they are basically just expensive placebos or sugar pills that have little to no medicinal value.   Except for people suffering from severe depression, antidepressants have been shown to have almost no actual benefit above taking a placebo.  That means that antidepressants are, in most cases, simply expensive sugar pills with the added disadvantage of having numerous unpleasant side effects!  In addition, recent research indicates that for about one in four people, taking antidepressants actually makes them feel worse.

A third problem with antidepressants is the fact that, by taking a pill, you are not doing anything to remedy what may have led to your being anxious or depressed.   Becoming dependent on antidepressants to feel better is not much different that becoming hooked on heroin to feel better.   Rather than relying on a pill to change how you feel, it’s better to know how to take control of your own thoughts and feelings in order to feel better.  Unfortunately, until recently, a simple and practical program for overcoming depression was too expensive for most people.

The good news is that there is now a step-by-step program offered on the web for overcoming depression without medications.  It’s called “From Sad to Glad: How to Overcome Stress, Anxiety, and Depression and Feel Happy Again.”  In this program, Dr. Emmett Miller, M.D. and frequent Oprah guest and author Jonathan Robinson help people quickly overcome their depression with simple but powerful “self-healing” techniques.

The entire “Sad to Glad” program is downloadable from the web, or can be mailed to your home.  In the program, Dr. Miller and Mr. Robinson teach over 20 simple methods and ideas for overcoming mild or moderate depression.  In as little as two minutes a day of doing their simple exercises, participants soon notice remarkable improvement.

People who do the program report feeling better quickly, whereas the effect from taking antidepressants can take weeks to notice.  In addition, participants find that the methods they learn from the program also help them to effectively handle life’s many stresses and challenges.  We’ve now made the entire program free on this site. Click here for the full program. For a brief video of Dr. Miller and Jonathan Robinson talking about the program, click here.